Electing to Fight: Why Emerging Democracies Go to War (Belfer Center Studies in International Security) [Hardcover]

Edward D. Mansfield (Author), Jack Snyder (Author)

Book Description

Series: Belfer Center Studies in International Security | Publication Date: September 16, 2005

Does the spread of democracy really contribute to international peace? Successive U. S. administrations have justified various policies intended to promote democracy not only by arguing that democracy is intrinsically good but by pointing to a wide range of research concluding that democracies rarely, if ever, go to war with one another. To promote democracy, the United States has provided economic assistance, political support, and technical advice to emerging democracies in Eastern and Central Europe, and it has attempted to remove undemocratic regimes through political pressure, economic sanctions, and military force. In Electing to Fight, Edward Mansfield and Jack Snyder challenge the widely accepted basis of these policies by arguing that states in the early phases of transitions to democracy are more likely than other states to become involved in war.Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative analysis, Mansfield and Snyder show that emerging democracies with weak political institutions are especially likely to go to war. Leaders of these countries attempt to rally support by invoking external threats and resorting to belligerent, nationalist rhetoric. Mansfield and Snyder point to this pattern in cases ranging from revolutionary France to contemporary Russia. Because the risk of a state's being involved in violent conflict is high until democracy is fully consolidated, Mansfield and Snyder argue, the best way to promote democracy is to begin by building the institutions that democracy requires -- such as the rule of law -- and only then encouraging mass political participation and elections. Readers will find this argument particularly relevant to prevailing concerns about the transitional government in Iraq. Electing to Fight also calls into question the wisdom of urging early elections elsewhere in the Islamic world and in China.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"American foreign policy has been based on the premise that democracy promotes peace. Electing to Fight conclusively shows, however, that democratization, when mishandled, leads to war. Its challenge to the conventional beliefs of scholars and politicians makes it one of the most important books on international affairs in recent decades." Samuel P. Huntington , Albert J. Weatherhead III University Professor, Harvard University

' Electing to Fight is an important book. With analytical power and historical depth, Mansfield and Snyder argue for a simple conclusion: democratization can be dangerous, even if democracy, once achieved, is a good thing. Scholars, journalists, politicians, and citizens all need to hear this message, and to heed it. If Mansfield and Snyder are right, then policies that rely on war to promote elections are bound to produce disaster.' Joshua Cohen , Leon and Anne Goldberg Professor of the Humanities and Head of the Department of Political Science, MIT

"American foreign policy has been based on the premise that democracy promotes peace. *Electing to Fight* conclusively shows, however, that democratization, when mishandled, leads to war. Its challenge to the conventional beliefs of scholars and politicians makes it one of the most important books on international affairs in recent decades."--Samuel P. Huntington, Albert J. Weatherhead III University Professor, Harvard University

About the Author

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (September 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262134497
• ISBN-13: 978-0262134491
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #724,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly, November 10, 2006

By 

Peter McCluskey (San Bruno, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Electing to Fight: Why Emerging Democracies Go to War (Belfer Center Studies in International Security) (Hardcover)

This book makes a convincing argument that it's misleading to assume that democracies are less likely to wage wars. That assumption is true of mature democracies, but unstable nations that are trying to make a transition to democracy are more likely than autocracies to wage war. At least part of the reasons are increased nationalism, competition among politicians to be the most nationalist, and the weakness of stabilizing institutions.
The book offers some hints about how a transition to a democracy might be managed to minimize the risks, but this part of the book is more speculative and less convincing.
In spite of the book's relevance to current events, it devotes little attention to the present. It covers the time period from the French revolution to the present with the perspective of a historian, and says as much about Iraq in 1948 as it does about the recent experiment with democracy in Iraq. It is somewhat valuable for reminding us how many attempts at democracy failed and have largely faded from collective memories.
The dry, scholarly style of the book is a bit mind-numbing.